Wanted Dead or Alive!
by aslMeno
Summary: After taking Akainu's hit for his brother, Ace was sure that it was the end. That was until he woke up seemingly buried alive in front of his grave. After finding out two years have passed since his 'death', Ace goes in search of answers trying to unwrap what has happened in the two years he was gone. "...I didn't break my promise Lu..." -Rated M for Language-
1. Prologue

**:note:  
It's aslMeno with a new fanfiction, and before I start, I just want to get some 'little itsy bitsy' things out of the way (you can always just skip the note and read ahead xD)  
First thing, ****this FF will be finished no matter how long it takes. ****One of my pet peeves of writing/reading FF is when you're into a great story, really looking forward to the next chapter and 'BOOM'...it ends in the middle of the story. \(._.)/  
This will not happen.  
Second thing. I am going to ****commit**** myself that at least one chapter will be posted each week. Some people say I may have high hopes, but I have already written 5 chapters, all they need now is some tweeking. :3  
Last thing (I promise ^.^") The thing which will motivate me to write is reviews. Now I'm not going to be a mad woman and poke you with a pointy stick 'till you review, but each review will be appreciated a lot, and the more reviews that come the more chapters will come out ;D  
*shameless bribing*  
SO. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this story \(*Q*)/**

**(P.S I AM SO SORRY FOR THE SHORT CHAPTER. ITS MORE LIKE A PROLOGUE. YEAH. THIS IS A PROLOGUE.)**

**Disclaimer:I do not own One Piece in anyway. If I did, after Marineford (where Ace somehow survived) Luffy would be reunited with his brother and crew, they would laugh the whole thing over, promising to never speak of it again as they all hop onto a floating train in the sky and fly off into the sunset.**

* * *

In a moment.

In a split of a second.

Ace's world **_nearly _**came crashing down.

There was no way he was going to let that happen.

It was when Akainu flashed past him...

...it was when he saw him making his way over to his **_irreplaceable _**brother who was lying defenseless on the ground...

Ace knew what he had to do.

* * *

_"Thank you..." _Uncontrollable tears started to stream down his face, darkness starting to edge into his sight.

_"For loving me...!" _

He meant it.

In those five simple words, just five simple words that meant **_so much_ **to Ace; to his brother...

In those five simple words, he felt like he could let go.

Sure, there were things he regretted.

Not being able to continue having adventure's with his Oyaji and his brothers,

Not being able to see Luffy at the end of his journey...

but he found something to _live_ for.

And most importantly, something to _die_ for.

_'Luffy...'_

* * *

**New chapter will be out faster since _this _chapter/prologue is ****so**** short! **

_**(Pssst...Chapter's will be around the 3,000-5,000 word mark)**_

**Please review, or favorite or follow! I appreciate all kinds of feedback..._believe it or not_..I love people who are honest with me!  
**

**More about what's going on in the FF in the next chapter!**

**That's all folks...;3 **

**-aslMeno**


	2. Chapter 1

**:note:**

**See! Told 'yah I would give you another chapter quickly!**

**...You didn't believe me did 'yah?!**

***SSSHUUUNN THE NON BELIEVERS SHUUUNNN***

**...**

**I am sorry for the start of this chapter being so depressing. **

**I didn't mean it! \(QWQ)/**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my food and my mobile. And my money. Cant forget the money.**

**(PS. People say that they get to write FF more when their ill. I don't know how they do that. I was ill a little while ago, and back then I could just about focus on the fact I had feet ._.)**

* * *

_He was in darkness._

_Complete and utter darkness._

_There was no sound, no taste, not even a texture to be felt on his skin. _

_All that was there, was his conscious._

* * *

Ace knew that he had died. And surprisingly, he wasn't _that_ upset about it. He didn't even have any burning feeling to rush back to the world of the living. In fact, the only reason he would _want_ to return was to see if Luffy and his family escaped the war in one piece.

_I might add that _that was before he had spent nearly **two years in absolute darkness.**

When describing personality traits of Ace, patience is not one you would come across. That was why he was convinced...he was in hell.

The first reason of course was because of the _vile _blood that run through his veins.

Being the son of such a monster...

there was no way he was expecting to be shown mercy...

...even in death.

And the second reason was because he wasn't exactly an 'angel' in his life. He was a pirate..and being a pirate, you had to commit sins to survive.

But the third reason? The reason he actually _believed_ he was in hell?

**There was only so much waiting in endless darkness he could take. **

Countless times he has tried to move his dead hands, or struggle to open his eyes which were unable to see no more. But what annoyed him more than anything was he could still think.

He was awake! ..._Technically. _He could still recount the many precious memories he had spent with his brother's and his dearest father.

He would re-live in his head the whole traumatic experience of Impel down...

of Marineford...

of seeing his brother's face in _total and utter pain_ as he rushed in front of him.

If only his mouth would move, he could speak...shout even!

But then that voice.

The only thing that would speak to him.

The voice of reason.

The voice, over the years..

he had come to **hate**...

"..."

_"Stop trying. _

_You can't do anything about it now..._

_...you gave up your life..._

_ after saving your brother. _

_Stop trying._

_There's no point._

_You can't escape death y'know._

_Not even just to speak to your brother again._

_Stop trying._

_He's probably dead._

_Along with everyone you brought to that execution.  
_

_They shouldn't have been there._

_It's all your fault..._

_ if even one person dies._

_you bought them there._

_Stop trying._

_You don't deserve to be loved...  
_

_because everyone around you..._

_they'll all die because of you. _

_So why try to return?_

_So more innocent people will die?_

_The world's better off..._

_ with you dead.  
_

_Stop trying._

_You shouldn't..._

_have even existed in the first place._

_Your father was a monster..._

_You...  
_

_are a monster..._

_Stop trying._

_No-one will miss you..._

_because once they found out..._

_who you really are..._

_they regretted spending every moment with you.. _

_You're dead..._

_You are truly alone now..._

_So..._

_just..._

_**S****top trying...**"_

_..._

_.._

_._

A rasped and choked voice hit the darkness, despite the level of tone it was at...

it was filled with so much determination...so much conviction...

Ace himself couldn't believe it was his own voice.

_**"...N-Never...!"**_

A silence hovered in the air, both the voice and Ace unable to comprehend what just happened.

_'That was impossible right?' _Ace had asked himself.

Expecting the voice to respond to him, he was met with more shattering silence, leaving himself with his thoughts again.

_'Did...Did I just speak?'_

Silence.

_'B-because if I just spoke, then that means I coul-'_

Like being hit in the face by a blustering wave, Ace was hit with the desperation of oxygen in his throat. A tingling feeling spiraled down his in-mobile arms. The arms that haven't moved for years, flung themselves onto Ace's neck, his nails clawing his neck for air, as the previously lifeless chest bounced back to life, moving up and down like it had done all those years ago.

His legs thrashed upwards, only to be met with a huge thud, along with a pain tingling through his leg.

Hell if he cared though.

He was alive.

He didn't have one clue about how that was possible...

but for now, he would just be grateful.

Pushing all his questions to the side of his head for later, he continued to thrash his legs upwards (despite the bruising it was doing to his 'dead' leg) which suddenly caused bits of debris to lightly fall on top of Ace's face. Flickering his eyes open, he was met with darkness...

...but not the same darkness he had been living(?) in for who knows how long.

It was ever so slightly hinted with a murky brown color, causing Ace to fling his arms around to see exactly where he was. Only being able to stretch his arms out to the length of his elbows, thoughts (and not overly happy ones) crossed his mind in where he might actually be.

To confirm his suspicions, Ace focused all his energy he had onto his newly animated arm, causing a little light to flicker on the end of his finger. His eyes winced at the new light, as held the finger up, bringing light to where he actually was.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me."

He had been buried alive.

* * *

Hours had past since Ace's ... 'recovery' (as he put it) and not before long, he was already in a situation which he _may or may not_ end up losing his life again.

**He was stuck.**

**In a hole.**

_**Underground.**_

He'd be **damned** if he let himself starve to death after raising from the grave! How pathetic would it be if he was to die (again) after just waking up!

So, as his first attempt of escaping this new form of muddy, grizzly hell, he moved every possible muscle as far as he could and started hitting everywhere, hoping for the ground to break above, and shine a light of hope.

No. Such. Luck.

After realizing that hitting the ground above wouldn't solve anything (though it did take some time to realize, resulting in various bits of dirt and bugs to fall into Ace's mouth and for Ace to use a variety of language to 'show those bugs whose boss') he came up with his second attempt.

"HEEEEEEEEEEYYYY?!"

**Scream at the top of his voice until someone hears him.**

"IS ANYONE UP THERE!?"

He didn't particularly care how stupid he looked or sounded at this moment. His stomach was starting to growl and after having not eaten in years, he was starting to get pissed. Flames began to flicker on his shoulders an-

_Wait.  
_

"..."

* * *

"KAGERO!"

Ace screamed out, as a ray of fire burst out of Ace's fist, trying to blast the ground above him upwards and forming a way out. Sadly this just again resulted in more ground falling on top of the already pissed and hungry Ace.

"Damn it!" Ace shook his hand to rid the fire. "I guess I've lost practice..." '_It looks like being underground that whole time...it's affected my devil fruit...maybe..would I be able to use that?'_

_'Eh. Worth to give it a shot.'_

"HIKEN!"

Ace shouted again. A huge explosion trembled from above, but, this time, he was not met with specks of dirt and worms as he had before...he was greeted by a avalanche of dirt to fall from above. "Oh shi-"

...

Reaching upwards, towards the sky, Ace managed to sneak his way through the crumbled dirt, using his hands, feet, elbows, his chin, anything to climb his way up.

Suddenly, after minutes of climbing very slowly up, he saw a speck of light.

The tiniest bit of light shone on the tip of his forehead, blinding one of his eyes.

But he was too overjoyed too care.

With one last punch upwards, he lifted the ground above him as a cool breeze hit his hand and more light shone through. As he reached around for stable land to pull himself up, he could suddenly hear the sound of the sea blow behind him.

With grunts of pain he lifted himself from the grave, breathing heavily as his head hit the cool air, his eyes wincing at the light around him. Turning around, he was met with a huge inanimate object, more in the shape of a monument.

Focusing his misty black eyes, before his pupils went huge, Ace was able to read out what the monument was.

_Portgas D. Ace_

* * *

**So there it is!\(*~*)/  
**

**Sadly, I won't be able to do quick updates like this all the time...But if this chapter gets good reviews and follows, I will try to get another chapter out before or on Wednesday. Also, this is most likely going to be the length of most of the chapters. Like this, I can assure that there will be one update a week!  
Anyways. Damn that beginning. Was so. so. so. hard to write.  
All of this chapter was really xD  
But now I have a good plan of everything that is going to happen in this story...so I don't care ...\(OWO)/  
I tried my best in using logic (when it came to Ace using _Kgaero _and_ Hiken _) but...logic doesn't really apply in this or One Piece itself. Yeah. I used One Piece logic instead x3  
**

**Also! The next couple of chapter's will be written differently! Instead of me writing in third person..it will be coming from Ace's POV. **

**Also please feel free to check my other FF! I would really appreciate it!  
I'm hoping that this chapter wasn't too depressing. meh. **

**Please review and follow and favorite for more chapters~!**

**That's all folks ;3 **

**-aslMeno**


	3. Chapter 2

**:note:**

**Taadaah~ Another chapter! (And I know it's kinda short. But keep in mind I have already posted 2 chapters this week~!)  
**

**First off, I wanna say a HUGE thankyou to all of the people who reviewed and clicked the favorite and follow buttons! I feel so lucky to have such a great feedback, so thank you~! **

**This chapter..was hard. I think I have said that for every chapter though. Guess I have to just live with the fact that writing FF is hard ;~; *sigh***

**Disclaimer: I wanna run away to the desert. Its too cold here. ;~; *wraps up in blanket and sneezes* But that doesn't make me own One Piece. **

**(P.S I swear this year has gone so fast. Like one minute, It's Easter and everyone is going shit crazy for some chocolate, the next it's Christmas and everyone is going shit crazy for snow ._.)  
**

* * *

_The huge monument stood in front of him._

_His hair blowing before his eyes..._

_seeing what no man should ever see...  
_

_the last statement of his life..._

* * *

_'Portgas D. Ace'_

For a few moments, Ace was blank.

He really had died.

He really did break the _promise_...

the _promise_ that he had swore to Luffy..

...

_**"You've got to promise me Ace..**_

_**don't ever die..! "**_

...

He broke it.

Well, he_ had_ broke it.

He wasn't completely sure now.

And that seem to be the perfect time for Ace to reflect on how he was still standing.

Blinking a few times, he mumbled to himself. "What...the? How..the hell am I...?"

He _was_ dead.

And last time Ace checked, the dead** _stayed _**dead.

But here he was.

He was alive.

Peeling his eyes slowly off the monument, he gazed down to analyze his appearance. After all, it is not often you see people climb out of their graves looking all shiny and new. (Though to be honest, it's not often people climb out of their graves _at all_)

He was met with slightly scratched skin, with slight bits of dirt and debris sticking out of his wounds. His skin was un-naturally pale, unlike it being a tanned color he was all to use too and his nail's broken and smothered with dirt. Looking down his arm, the bold '_ASCE_' tattoo was luckily still there, despite all the grazes and wounds around it. Of course, his necklace, hat and knife were missing, but were quickly found seeing as they were placed on top of his grave.

But the biggest difference? The one that made Ace's eyes double in size?

Right in the center of his chest, a massive fist-shaped scar stood out, the skin obviously different from the already strange pale color of Ace's body.

Quickly, turning his head round to peek over his shoulder, his eyes hurriedly searched his back, as a smirk crawled across the freckled man's face.

It was still there.

Yeah sure, _now_ there was a huge scar cancelling out more of the middle section of the tattoo which wasn't there before, but it still remained.

The mark that showed that he was _still _Whitebeard's son.

As Ace smiled to himself, a slight chilling breeze picked up, freeing Ace from his thoughts and causing him to snap back into the real world. Also, it caused Ace to flip his head to the side, as light blinded his eyes.

"Ah shit...!" He swore to himself as he shook his head, glancing back up, as his eyes suddenly locked onto something.

It seemed to be another monument, much like his, but double the size. A white cloak could be spotted on top of the monument as it swung with the breeze.

A much too familiar cloak.

With frozen eyes, a stutter of words fell out of his mouth, his whole body shaking.

"...O-Oyaji...?

* * *

Leaning against Whitebeard's grave, Ace's head hung down low as his hair covered his trembling eyes.

Whitebeard... his beloved father...

the one that accepted him in ways that only Luffy and Sabo did...

was **d****ead**...

buried beneath him.

Half of him was hoping that he would rise from the grave just as he did.

But after hours of waiting by the grave's side...

after hours of recalling _now_ distant memories spent with Oyaji and his family...

it hit him that that wasn't going to be the case.

He should have known it was coming.

He knew from the moment that Squad stabbed him in Marineford, that there wasn't much of a chance of him surviving the war.

But despite that...

...part of him had been wishing the whole time he was in darkness that Oyaji and the others retreated after his death.

He wished that all of them escaped safely, taking Luffy under their arms and sailing away together.

But he didn't know anything.

**'Cause he had been stuck in that hole this whole time.**

He couldn't even imagine what his family went through.

He should have been there...

it was his fault that Oyaji was dead...

if it wasn't for him...

all of them would be happy...

and Oyaji would still be alive.

...

Even though those thoughts were circling round in his mind, he couldn't help but hear Oyaji..Marco..Thatch..Vista..Haurta... everyone...laughing and telling him that it was complete bullshit.

They were family...

and family die for one another.

Sighing as he wiped the small tears that were forming in his eyes, he lifted his head up to see the cloak waving in the wind, as the image of his family formed in his mind.

Smiling, as he slowly shut his eyes, before letting sleep take over him, he whispered..

"You...idiots..."

* * *

**WHOOP.**

**aaaaah. It will be another week 'till the next chapter. I need some rest ... ZZZzzzzZZZ =3=  
**

**Well I hope you enjoyed reading it! As I said, I know its kinda short...but it's getting late. Also I promised you another chapter out by now, so I decided to keep the promise ^~^**

**AAAH. Ace is not going to be this sulky in the future. **

**Describing Ace was relatively easy, I just hope that it was easy to read on your side :'3 _Though _I am sorry about the lack of information on Ace's scar. It's pretty difficult to describe a '_fist-shaped scar_' without going _'It's..um..big. And like a circle, but not exactly..its a little wider and-' ._._**

**Also. It might seem that Ace is a bit 'simple' because of how long it took him to realize he was alive, but if you were in his situation...his reaction seems pretty believable.  
**

**Anyways! Thank you for reading..~ Please review..I will appreciate it _loads_ and I will appreciate as much if you hit the follow and favorite button.  
**

**That's all folks :'3 **

**-aslMeno**


	4. Chapter 3

**:note:**

**Helloh everyone! aslMeno here with a new chapter..**

**DID YOU SEE IT GUYS..DID YOU SEE IT. HE'S ...KJDKHAJSHJAGSGYAGUKWR. *I won't spoil for people who haven't read the latest chapter of One Piece (you seriously need to read it...of course after reading this and reviewing ;D) * BUT SERIOUSLY. When I found out, I called my sister at 3 in the morning shouting down the phone it has finally happened. She wasn't too happy. BUT I WAS :'D *sniffles from uncontrollable joy*  
**

**AHHHHOMFGSHJHSJHJD. It's nearly Christmas! ;Q;. *starts to sing Christmas songs*  
**

**Seriously, Christmas is one of the best times of the year. It also happens to be my second favorite holiday! (Halloween taking the golden place \(OQO)/ ).**

**Also, this chapter is a little longer than the others...**** so think of this as a Christmas present to all you guys~!**

******Wow. I really can't shut up can I xD**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!  
**

**Disclaimer: I think it's kinda obviously that I am not Oda xD **

******P.S (Do you ever get that annoying moment of amnesia when writing a FF? When suddenly you have an amazing word or sentence to use and then ****_'BOOF' _****it's gone. ;~;?... I do. And it makes me want to suddenly poke my brain with a pointy stick 'till it stops xD) **

* * *

_If you were to be given a second chance..._

_...would you take it?_

_After being abhorrent..._

_despised..._

_all your life..._

_would it not be a blessing to just except your fate?_

* * *

It had been around 24 hours since Ace..._as he put it_...'woken up'.

Most of those hours though were spent besides Oyaji's grave...

as Ace kept apologizing and asking through his stutters and tears...

...

_"I am so sorry..."_

...

_"What..happened after...after I died Oyaji?"_

...

_"All of this...You being here...this is my fault...!"_

...

_"Did you try to escape...?"_

...

_"Are Marco and the others...are they...are they still alive? Oh please god... please...tell me they're not buried here as well..."_

...

_"Pops...how am I alive..?" _

Though each time Ace stuttered up a question, he was always met with the slender and quiet sound of emptiness.

Of course, this was a different silence to when Ace was floating around in nothingness...but nevertheless...it was just as painful. For a large part of his life...

Ace had been surrounded by his friends and his family...

he had been surrounded by the sounds and sights of freedom and happiness...

but when he was sitting there...

lying besides Oyaji's grave...

for the first time since meeting Luffy and Sabo...

he was truly **alone**.

...

And would Ace stand for that?

Absolutely not.

He was now far beyond pissed for that.

No matter how hard it would be...

he would find them.

He would find Marco...

find Luffy...

and he would find out why he was given a second chance.

Sighing, Ace raised from the spot he has been in the last few hours and turned to face Oyaji's grave.

After saying his goodbye's to Oyaji, promising him that he will find his brothers and protect them for him, Ace traipsed over to his own grave as he swiftly took a hold of his familiar orange cowboy hat and his knife and precious beads, as he turned away...placing his hat around his neck walking away from the grave site.

* * *

It had been around a week since Ace raised from his grave.

And he was still stuck on this _**freaking frustrating **_island.

It took a day of constant walking and searching to find out Ace was the only _living _resident on this island, which to Ace's frustration, meant there was no where he could steal food, clothes and the boat he needed to set sail.

Instead, he was left with a heard o_f shit eating monkeys_ that all shared the brain of a_ peanut_.

Since then though, Ace had come across a livable camping spot near a lake _(which contained no sea water) _and decided to camp there for a few nights. That was the plan until he found a way off the island.

He had bathed, hunted, eaten and slept...the only thing's he was missing was something to cover himself in and something to sail away on.

Sadly, there was no _escape your abandoned island kit_ set up and ready for Ace to take, so Ace had to find other means to get off the island.

Sitting over a cliff, similar to the one he used to gaze out of as a child, Ace sighed, reaching up for his hat, placing it on his knee's in front of him as he took in every detail of the orange object.

Gazing at it, it reminded him that it had been well over a year since his death, visible by the worn out edges, the faded color and the scratches all over the two ambivalence faces which stared back at him.

Murmuring a mixture of words under his breath, he looked back up to the sea.

Blinking a few times, Ace focused his misty black eyes.

There was something...

in the corner of his eye...

he swore he saw a sail.

Placing the hat back over his head, Ace jumped onto his feet, dashing to the tip of the cliff.

A smile walked across Ace's face, as he saw something which the freckled man hadn't seen in days (or _years_).

"Finally!" He laughed, running off in the opposite direction of the sea.

**It was hope.**

* * *

"...What the?"

The half-naked flame thrower stood there, a mixture of feelings flowing through him.

In front of him, a rotted wooden object the size of a cargo ship lied against the wall, making the already dark and sodden cave seem small.

"No, no way."

Being a pirate, Ace expected to see a few shipwrecks here and there along his journeys...and they were usually quite the sight.

But now was not the time he had wanted to see one.

Not when it was his only chance he had to escape.

Dashing over to the once magnificent ship, Ace jumped inside with ease into the what use to be deck of the shipwreck. His eyes stumbled over all the sights, of the damp...well...everything, as Ace explored the insides and outsides of the ship. Just when he was content that there was no useable equipment that could be used on the 'ship', a slight sound of water echoing caused Ace to escape his thoughts.

"There's no way. There couldn't be somebody else was on this damn island aside from me, could there?" Ace mumbled to himself, talking to no one in particular as his eyes trailed off around the cave.

Despite his own words, Ace sprinted over to the place where the sounds had been echoing from, to be met with the now **_holy _**sight of a slightly damaged Lanteen boat.

He had found his way off the island.

* * *

**TAADAAAAAAAAAAAH. **

**There we go. Another chapter finished! *throws tinsel everywhere* *:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*  
**

**There we go. Now this page is Christmas-y. ;3**

**Luckily from now on we can actually progress a bit in this story instead of reading Ace's emotions. (Though if you like that, I can still keep this kind of thing up :'DD) Now the real story begins.**

**Also...(giving you a little hint here ;3) Ace left the grave site with the grave _still_ dug up ... that might not have been the best idea.**

**Thankyouthankyou****thankyou****************thankyou****thankyou****thankyou****thankyou********thankyou** to all the people who reviewed! I really appreciate the time you give to review these chapters, it's the thing that reminds me to keep writing on..so yet again..thankyou!   


******Also a big thankyou to all the people who favorited and followed! **

**Sorry, but there might not be another chapter until New Year, mainly because of the fact that I am away on a trip for the Christmas holidays...and sadly there is a lot of studying that I have to do up till then. I will _try _to get maybe another one out...but I can't promise.**

**(And yet again... sorry for all my notes being so _long_ ... it's a bad habit of mine D:) **

_******Snow is falling...**_

_******all around me...**_

_******Children playing having fun...**_

_******t'is the season...**_

_******for love and understanding...**_

_******Merry Christmas...everyone~**_

******Anyways...**

******That's all folks...;3**

******-aslMeno **


	5. Chapter 4

**:note:**

**JKAHJHJDHAlhdaGYUTGQUEHIKRFHKLAHJASJHJKFHFUAWHDWJKHAJKFGQ;HIOY82Y147657QE.**

**I DID IT. I GOT ANOTHER CHAPTER OUT.**

**I did it for ya' guys :~; **

**xD MERRY CHRISTMAS~! (****_nearly_****)**

**This chapter is the longest so far...so...yeah. xD Enjoy ~ I'm not gonna keep you waiting, here is the next chapter~!**

**Disclaimer: Oda should really put in a Christmas episode...seriously. Also Ace and ****_Sabo (;D) _****should be inside Luffy's Christmas present. Yeah I know. That sounds weird. xD Though If there is one, please tell me ;~; *even though I have thoroughly watched One Piece through and through. That doesn't make me own it though. :'D**

**(P.S: Has the thought of a fat man traveling down your chimney to steal your food and drop of objects ****_which you have no clue what they are until you open them to _**_**kids**_ **seem weird to you. Almost pervy. Am I the only one? Oh. Well Santa scares me xD. Seriously. He watches us do everything ._. Maybe that's why I've never got a present from him xDD)**

* * *

_A light in depth of darkness..._

_you can hear it..._

_it screams out to be accepted._

_However..._

_if the darkness is a part of you..._

_how do you separate yourself from it..._

_when it's the only thing you have left...?_

* * *

After dragging the slightly rotten Lanteen boat to the shore, Ace took a step back to asses the damage that the raft had. The boat wasn't exactly huge. Other then the fact it had massive broken sails towering over, most of the boat was missing a good part of it's deck.

And that wasn't the only problem.

The solution to fixing these parts of the Lanteen boat was the biggest problem out of them all.

The only resources Ace actually had on the island was tree's, bit's of debris from the shipwreck...and... _monkey's.._

"Arh, this is going to be a pain to fix." Ace groaned, shaking his head towards the sand, closing his eyes as he let his thin, charcoal hair fall upon his face as a faint laugh escaped his parched lips.

"Well, no one said this was going to be easy..." Lifting his hand to sway the hair away from his eyes, Ace continued to move the Lanteen boat so that it was a comfortable distance away from the sea.

After all, the _last thing_ he needed was for his **one little _hope_ of escape** float away into the sunset.

Collapsing onto the sandy ground below him next to the raft, Ace laid back, allowing for the breeze to wash by him as he stared up at the hued light of the sky above him. Sounds of the waves thrashing themselves against the cliffs echoed in Ace's mind and ears, as his eyes became more and more heavy, letting the darkness taking a hold of him.

* * *

Finally.

Finally the boat was finished.

_Well..._more like the boat was _usable_.

If you could _call_ it a boat.

The Lanteen was rather a peculiar looking boat, having only one sail (_compared to the two it had previously_ _before Ace 'fixed' it_), the main and _only _mast being stuck together by a dozen coconut leaves, which seemed to work as it had a tenacious grip to the mast. Also, if you took a look inside of the boat, you could see that the deck floor was made up of various different pieces of driftwood, which were fastened together by mis-matched rope at the end of both sides of the deck.

Inside the boat was stacks of worn through boxes, some being not damaged in the slightest, and others being hard to recognize as an actual _box. _These boxes were stacked with fruit that Ace had gathered from the island (_causing Ace to have a one to one match with the monkey's_) and other vital resources such as water. Though, the object that stood out the most in the Lanteen was the grinning Ace himself, covered from head to toe in a white cloth which previously used to be the second sail, hiding him of his features. After all, he wanted to find Luffy and Marco first before he ran into any of those _shitty _marine's again. One thing you could recognize though, which showed that he really was Ace after all, was the mad man grin he had plastered on his face.

Looking around the boat, as whistled with a impressed look in his eyes he laughed. "Not to bad, if I say so myself. Ha, who knew I could build a ship?"

"..."

A silence followed after the words hit the air.

As is he was talking to someone who disapproved of the ship, he grumbled, sitting down onto the far side of the boat. "It's not like I'm a shipwright or anything, don't give me that look."

"..."

"Yeah, yeah. I hear ya'! Okay, I admit it. The boat looks shit." He put his hands up in defense, as a scowl covered his face.

Jumping over the side of the boat, Ace started to drag the newly built Lanteen back towards the sea.

Ace couldn't understand how people got all sentimental when they left an island they had been on for a certain amount of time. Sure leaving Luffy behind in Fuusha Village was upsetting, and made Ace have sudden urges to run back and fling himself onto Luffy, but Ace couldn't find anywhere more fitting as the sea being his home.

He was all too fed up of this island...

actually, he couldn't be more happier being far, _far _away from it.

So that was why, as soon as the tip of the boat hit the sea, a wild smirk sprang on Ace's face, giving the boat one last push, as he toppled over the side into the shaking boat, which had finally started to drift off with the tide.

The white figure's smile faded, as he turned to look down to his hands, a thoughtful look shimmering through his eyes.

An image of a 14 year old Luffy who had a huge grin plastered on his face as he waved his big brother goodbye pinned in Ace's head.

Looking up towards the sea before him...

Ace, with a distant look smothering his eyes...

said in a hushed voice, the words filled with regret.

"It's not long now...You don't have to wait any longer...Luffy..."

* * *

Not far from where Ace was sailing away, an immense figure the shape of a ship was sailing towards the island.

A flag fluttered at the top of the main mast, dancing with the wind as an all too familiar logo was plastered to the black fabric.

The logo was a simple skull and crossbones...

the eyes narrowed with the mouth smirking in a mysterious way.

Across the top of the mouth however...

has a mark that a couple of years ago, would have scared pirates and marines alike.

A mark which has faded throughout the tough years where they had been separated from their captain.

_A long white beard stretched across the skull's smirking face._

"Captain...we're near..."

A pale tall man, stood at the front of the ships deck, a glazed look in his eyes as they were locked onto the island ahead. His slight golden hair brushing along with the wind, hair that in the past would be acationaly compared of that to a tip of a pineapple.

The man sighed, brushing his fingers through his hair as he closed his eyes before looking towards the crew mate which appeared to be talking to him.

"Prepare to dock the island..." A silent whisper came from his lips before gazing back to the island.

_"It's been two years...Ace..."_

* * *

**TAAADAAAAAH~**

**Another chapter finished! **

**Uh oh.. xD**

**Ace is going crazy xD...!**

**It would seem that Ace is still talking to the voice he use to talk to all the time back when he was in the darkness. Dx**

**Marco and the rest of the New Whitebeard Pirate's have arrived~! *Q***

**Uh Oh x2 xD**

******ITS SO CLOSE TO CHRISTMAS AHJDHPuajksgQ7816E7ETYUDHSJHNKasjioipadoidhijhDIHADGfuck.**

**Anyways... Thank you too all the people that reviewed...I appreciate _so _much, I seriously love you guys :'D Also a thank you to all the people who favorited and followed, you guys rock :'D**

**This chapter was long...well, longer than the others I have written. xD**

**So remember to hit the follow and favourite buttons, and it will be really appreciated if you could leave a review down bellow...it's what keeps me writing ;'3 **

**MEEEERRRYY CHRRISSTMMASS~! *Starts to sing bundles and bundles of Christmas songs with eggnog in hand* ~(*~*)~  
**

**That's all folks ;3**

**-aslMeno**


	6. Chapter 5

**:note:**

**...**

**I GOT ANOTHER FREAKING CHAPTER HERE PEOPLE \(Q.Q)/ **

**And there is a tiny bit of difference in the chapter length. This is the longest yet. :'D (****_an extra 1,000+ words_****)**

**xDD Seeing as I got****_ amazing_**** feedback from the last chapter, I felt it was my ****_duty_**** to bring you another chapter...;~; seriously...you guys rock xD**

**Anyways, **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**Disclaimer: After reading/watching One Piece for a while now, I always see these people commenting about how lame Luffy's bounty is and how it should be higher. =_= I would hate that! I love how we get to see Luffy's bounty slightly rise higher and higher through the chapter's / episodes... it makes the anime ****_that little bit more _****exciting...don't you think? That doesn't make me own it though ;'D**

**(P.S AHHH. Am I the only one sick of all these adverts about Christmas? I mean don't get me wrong ****_I _****_love_****_ christmas _****but after 2 months of listening to very ****_very_**** annoying Christmas jingles...I feel like if they don't end soon, I'm going to end up being sent to a funny house... ._.)**

* * *

_As you search..._

_seeking out for those lost moments..._

_the ones that have been consumed by time..._

_does it not occur to you..._

_that the thing you may be searching for..._

_is the exact thing that you are running away from?_

* * *

Haruta was always known in the crew to be the most cheerful one...

the one that always would sneak up on you...

and express that cheeky side of her...

despite how mellow you once were.

Although...you could easily say the same thing for the rest of the crew.

They all have their special little quirks...

their personalities...

the little things that make them unique...

and the personal things that made them her family.

Being on-board the Moby Dick was like a dream come true. Being forever surrounded by their family, sailing the depths of the worlds' ocean as free as they could be...

It was **everything** that she could have wished for.

So when...

two years later...

when she makes her way up towards the place where her family is buried along with the rest of her grieving brothers...

those special little quirks...

for a split of a second...

_they seem to fade from existence._

It had been** two** years.

Two extremely _protracted_ and _painful_ years since she and all of her brothers had lost their father;their brother.

Ace had died protecting his younger brother, whereas Whitebeard died protecting his sons and daughters. Even though both had died so others could live, sometimes it seemed it would have been better the other way round. To let their family protect their beloved brother and father.

_But, they couldn't._

And from then on, the regret and sadness would _eat_ them away, despite the guiltiness they felt.

Glancing to the side, Haruta spotted Namur, looking as lost in his thoughts as she was, recollecting the many adventures and trials that the crew had faced before anything regarding **_Blackbeard _**interrupted their lives.

Placing her hand on top his shoulder, Haruta shot Namur a weak but meaningful smile, shaking him out of his thoughts.

"Hey...are you okay?" She asked softly, even though she already knew the answer.

Nodding, the fishman shuffled forward a bit, causing Haruta's hand to fall, he returned a saddened smile before looking forward towards the hill. "Yeah, I'll be fine... How do you recon Marco's doing?"

"Same as us...I guess." She answered, also gazing towards the hill.

Though what she'd said, wasn't what she was truly feeling.

The harsh truth was, that Marco had been closest to them all...Oyaji, Ace...Thatch. And she knew that this was the harsh truth because, out of everybody, Marco had been the first and only one that had walked over to where they had been buried, while everyone else just watched...waiting for their captain to return.

Namur chuckled a sad and distant laugh, leaning up against a tree as he looked up towards the sky, raindrops dripping down his face. "I sure hope not..."

Chuckling the sad laugh herself, she stayed, glued to her spot as the raindrops danced around her.

Suddenly, the sight of her captain caught her eye, though seeing him caused Haruta to take a few steps back, before rushing towards him with disturbed thoughts and confusion.

Marco had not returned with the sad, solemn face he had arrived to the island with...

...he had instead a shadowed face which was facing the ground, his fists clamped tightly together as blue flames started to lick his shoulders. The sense of power radiated off of him, as his body shook slightly, causing his brothers around him to think that he had finally lost it.

That thought quickly changed as Marco raised his head, everybody around him taking a slight step back as they stared, eyes wide at the very..._very pissed off Marco _that stood before them.

Stopping a few feet in front of him, Haruta gasped for breath as she gave him a worried glance, unable to tell why he looked so angry. "Oi...Marco...what's wrong? Did something happen?"

Not answering, Marco continued to stay quiet, lowering his head, his pupils trembling aimlessly as his body still shook, indicating for Haruta and anybody else to go and have a look themselves. "Ace...he's.."

Unable to hear their captain anymore, they continued running past him through the rain to where the graves were based Haruta, Namur and Izo stopped at the sight of a substance on the ground a few meters away from where the graves were, causing Izo to kneel down, confirming that the substance was in fact mud.

The other two kept running forward before their bodies halted, pupils wide with _disbelief _as they approached the monument which appeared to be Ace's grave, his familiar and _precious _belongings gone, as their eyes slowly peeling down to see the ground below them dug-up, showing no body inside.

A shattering silence hit the air, the two pirates unable to speak as their minds tried to catch up what their eyes were seeing.

That was until a grazed, choked voice filled the silence, one belonging to Izo. "What..the **_fuck_**...Who..."

Haruta gulped as she kneeled down to where the lifted up ground was, her pupils widening for a split of a second. _'What the-'_

"When I find who fucking did this..." Izo continued, turning around as he tried to keep his calm. "They...are beyond fucking dead." His eyes disappeared, shading them so his siblings couldn't see the utter fury written on his face. "And I am sure that...that Marco feels the...the same way." Quickly, Izo rushed back to where the rest of the crew was, the back of him shaking. Staying near that place made himself want to hurl.

Namur, who had been quiet the whole time, turned to take a glance at Whitebeard's grave, his eyes gluing in place. "Who, who would have done this. It couldn't have been the Marines, they agreed that they would respect the burial of... of Ace."

"Since when do Marines respect pirate's wishes? As far as I know, all they care about is wiping us off the map."

"But they would never have gone this far. It goes against what they believe in."

"And since when were you so pro-Marine?"

"Not now...Haruta."

"..."

Namur glimpsed at Haruta, before his eyebrow raising slightly. "What...are you doing?"

Haruta stayed silent, before she glowered, her sight being met with the dirt, as her voice was rasp and quiet, almost scared. "Thi-this dirt...It doesn't look like it was dug through, or sliced from above..."

"What do you mean?"

Meeting his gaze, Haruta lifted her head, meeting eye to eye with her fellow companion, as her vivid blue eyes shook. "What I'm trying to say is, that from the way the earth is shaped from what appears to be the removal of the body," Haruta gulped, standing up as her body started to tremble, brushing the dirt off of her white feathered trousers." What I am trying to get across is...that...it looks to me like the grave was dug from the inside...not from the outside."

"_What?_"

"Looking at how the earth is shaped around the grave...there is no way that anyone would be able to remove the body...so instead I turned to inspect the detail of the cracks which seemed to have formed. They, they were formed by an explosion Namur, and the only way that is possible, is for Ace himself to have..." Her voice trailed off as the all too familiar silence shook the air again, the only sound being the drips of the falling raindrops hitting the monument before them.

"..."

"I mean that-"

"Stop it Haruta. Don't be ridiculous...not...not right now."

"But-" Haruta looked down to the ground, herself trying to convince what her logic tells her is true.

"Do you think this is a _joke_?!" Namur grabbed a hold of her shoulders, startling Haruta from her thoughts causing her to look deep into Namur eyes. "Don't you understand the situation here?"

"Namur..."

"It's probably just some sick bastard who probably has a grudge against us has done this...that's...that's the only thing which could of happened..!"

"Listen to me Namur!" Haruta shouted, causing Namur to become silent, a slight tremble coming from his lips. "It..it was something I was only suggesting. Lets...lets just go back to everyone..._Okay_...? They're probably as upset and confused as we are..so let's..lets just get away from here...okay?" Tears started to swell up in her eyes, as Namur slowly let go of her shoulders, and nodded turning around to walk back in the direction they came from, not glancing at the grave's once.

* * *

Fate really must despise Ace.

Bad luck stalked the man, similar to the way animals stalked their prey before killing them off.

Why was Ace thinking of this though?

_He was lost._

_Well_ and _truly_ **lost.**

Of course he wouldn't admit it out loud though.

He had been floating on the endless sea for _who knows how long _and Ace's patience was just about to give.

Previously..

when he had been sailing on his Striker...

he had been given certain navigational points in which would lead Ace to where he had desired to go...

but when he was sailing on the boat which was floating through the tremendous sea's of the New World having no idea where to go...

of course after the said person had just _raised_ himself from the grave after _dieing_ in the depths of war...

it was understandable that the said person was just about to lose it.

Meaning by he was losing it, he was starting to talk to things that **weren't actually there.**

"I have got to say..." Ace laughed hitting the side of the frail deck as he glanced over the side. "For a little boat like you, you sure have some balls."

"_How pitiful._"

"What was that?"

"_What kind of abstract, kook of a pirate are you if one can not even sail a dismal boat such as this?_"

Ace's eyebrow twitched, looking around for the source of the sound.

"And what do you mean by _that_?"

_"I mean that it appears that you have been 'floating' in this sea for eight days now and you haven't seen any sight of land anywhere."_

"I'll get there." Ace laughed, laying back onto the side of the boat, his cloak falling down the sides of his elbows.

_"And with that simple minded attitude, it's amazing you haven't died again already." _

Twitching again, Ace narrowed his eyes, looking in a certain area of the boat as if he was glaring at a person sitting down.

"Is that so..." A _not-so appealing _smirk appeared on Ace's face, his eyes glancing dangerously at the 'other figure' inside the boat.

_"Well, I'll be damned." _

Ace laughed, cracking his knuckles, the devil smirk still plastered on his face. "You've got that right."

The voice gave an audible sigh, appearing to point in the direction Ace was opposite, causing the freckled man to look behind him, before jolting up to his feet, a gasp of relief washing through him.

Not too far away from the Lanteen, a barely visible island caught Ace's eyes.

Maybe he wasn't too unlucky afterall.

* * *

**TAAADAAAAAAAAH! *YAY FOR LONG CHAPTERS.***

**That. was hard to write ._.**

**I feel so sorry for Marco ;~;**

**I mean think about it, his closet friends are now all under the ground...leaving him in charge of the Whitebeard crew all alone. I mean don't get me wrong, I think he dearly loves all of his brothers (****_and_****_stuff_****) but admit it. The closest people he got to were Whitebeard, Ace and Thatch. Oda can be so mean sometimes ;~:**

**Though thanks to Ace raising from the grave, Marco is no longer sad! **

**._.**

**Now...he's just really...****_really_****_ pissed._**

**Uh oh xD**

**And Haruta was right about Ace just up and leaving from the grave, but will anybody believe her? Nope.**

**Uh Oh x2**

**And around the same time our lovable Ace is lost in the middle of the ocean while going mad because he is now talking to a voice in his head. **

**Uh oh x3 xDD **

**And about the voice. Eh. I don't usually like OC in a non-OC based story. This is going to be the only OC for a long time, so those who dislike them, I assure you there won't be one for a while. Those who like them however, there will be some in the future xDD**

**Also, I personally think when I look at Izo that he would have a pissed off attitude...Am I the only one? ._. *silence* . Its just the way he reacted to when Whitebeard told everybody to back up Luffy...to me, Izo looked a little pissed. And so that is why I think he would react like that. *YAAAY***

**Namur, I personally think was close to Ace. Like Luffy, I don't think Ace could give two shit's about whether or not Namur is a fishman, so I personally think they must have been close :3 **

**And BTW. I think Haruta is a girl. Nuff' said.**

**xDD Thankyou to all the people who reviewed, followed and favourited, I am so glad you like this FF, afterall, this is for you guys!**

**ANYWAYS.**

**I know I have been saying this for a few chapters now...but...SKJHDSIOH9QWUDIDHEISHJDBHJFIORH2IO3Y8IHRHEHUIWEHRIHRFIHRNWI HOLYSHIET ITS NEARLY CHRISTMAS. **

**I don't even know when the next chapter is coming out. I was gonna say that there might not be another one 'till New Year's...but it might be 2 months, or another 3 days. Idek. -_-**

**Please review, follow and favourite, and don't forget to check out my other FF. **

**Yes it is one of those "****_Omygawesh I'm from the real world but now I'm in One Piece wow~!" _****Type of FF, but...let's just say: **

**1) The OC hates people all together...=_= **

**2) Things do ****_not _****go smoothly...**

**3) She is ****_not _****going to be loved by everyone. I hate it when that happens and she is by no means..*shudders* a Mary-sue. -.-**

**So yeah...Please review \(^Q^)/**

**That's all folks...;3**

**-aslMeno **


	7. Chapter 6

**:note:**

***You enter a room where a girl sits there, a guilty look on her face with confetti in hair, chocolate smothered around her mouth with Christmas music still playing background*  
**

**Okay. **

**So maybe I got a bit _too_ carried away at Christmas...**

** and I may or may not had forgotten about this chapter...**

**...  
**

**IM SORRY ;Q; **

**I think I suffered from WB ;w;**

**ANYWAY _I AM HERE_ WITH A NEW CHAPTER! *YAAY* (_so don't kill meh ;Q:)_**

**I hope all of you have had a great Christmas...~! YOHOHO *_an__d a bottle of rum ;D_*  
**

**Also... I have decided (_Yes, just now...don't look at me like that xDD) _THIS IS A AU FANFICITON. I tried to stick to the storyline as much as I could in the story ahead, but that just hasn't worked out xDD More detail about that will be in the next chapter's note. :'3 *Can't have too much note in one chapter***

**What did you do for Christmas? I would love to know !x3 **

**Me? What did I do? I would like to know that too o_O*memory blurs more***

**ANYWAYS. On with the chapter! WHICH IS BTW 5,000+ WORDS LONG. I KNOW. I AM AMAZING.  
**

**Disclaimer: Unless Oda magically turns into a teenage girl, sitting in an extremely colorful and flashy room looking like she has taken every drug under the sun, I am not going to be Oda.  
**

**(P.S I don't take drugs.)**

**(P.P.S I'm already shit crazy enough ;DD)**

**(P.P.P.S This Chapter was wrote in a room blasted with ex-Christmas fairy lights, because the bulb's in nearly _every single room _have gone out. I mean how can that even happen?! Anyway, if this Fanfiction stops somehow, it will be because I would have died from '_overdose of so many flashes that one person can take when sitting inside a tiny room'. ._._)**

**(P.P.P.P.S-_oh yes, there's more ;D-_ I AM SORRY FOR THE un-EPICNESS THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THIS CHAPTER.)**

* * *

_Friends...and Foes.._

_They differ so slight..._

_ that it makes you wonder..._

_Who you should **trust** more...?_

* * *

Docking on the island turned out to be a lot more easier than either Ace or the voice could of imagined.

From what Ace could remember, most of the island's that were even close to Red Line should be heavily guarded by either marine's or pirate's themselves.

So seeing that there was only one small and quaint village placed on the island, looking to be on the deserted side did not clench Ace's fear of _where in the world he was. _

"They wouldn't have."

Walking towards the grassy cliff's that overlooked the sea behind them, the white cloaked figure's eyes darted everywhere, trying the grasp the scenery, the sounds and the smells.

It didn't look like this place was use to damage or warfare...

...it also didn't look like this place had been shown any sign's of erased beauty or pain from it's inhabitants...

...and it certainly didn't look like it had been bombarded by the dickhead marines or the stingy pirate crews.

And that can only mean one thing.

"Shit."

"_Hm?_"

Halting in his steps, Ace's hand rested on the back of his head, rushing his fingers through his hair as the figure obviously tried to calm his senses.

"We're not in the Grandline."

"_And what inclines you to make that assumption?" _

Twitching, his eyes shifted slowly to the left, looking at the presumed voice up and down. "Who said I was assuming it?"

_"That would have been me."_

Eyes twitching again as he faced away from the voice, he began walking back up towards the cliff's, a scowl easily visible on his face, as he started muttering under his breath. "Hey look, its not an assumption. Look around. Do you see any pirate or marine ships around here? There is none. Unless pirates have become extinct since I've been gone then it looks like we've round up in one to the blue seas...It's either that or we're at the start of the Grandline."

_"...Hm." _

"What?"

"_Sometimes pirate, you show signs of knowledge and actual understandment of things..._"

Smirking, Ace looked back at the voice, sending it a smile.

_"...but this is not one of those times." _

And as easily as that smile came, it went.

Ace's eyebrow started twitching as his eyes narrowed. The need to suddenly punch a certain someone grew, his fists clenched together as he muttered out in a dark, playful tone. "You know, you're starting to get _reaall_ too cocky for my liking."

_"Enough chitchat now, shouldn't we be doing something more important?" _

The said voice pointed towards the ever closer town which they were approaching, distracting the fire thrower from his thoughts and watched as he continued marching along, mumbling things under his breath.

This gave a moment for the Voice itself to look at the surroundings, taking a look at the view behind them, seeing a shadowed figure of a large ship approaching the island.

Deciding it best not to interrupt Ace from his _'oh so innocent__'_ thoughts of killing the said Voice, it sighed, following him up the steep cliff.

* * *

Vista leaned against the wooden walls of the cabin, his eyes shut as he listened to the barely audible breaths coming from his captain;his brother.

The man hadn't said a thing except from a few words since they had left the island, the others which had returned from the graves looking no better.

All of them, looked like they had seen death itself, pale and shaking, Haruta even sniffling from the previous tears that had been on her face.

After they had all continued to ask the four what had happened, the one that spoke was Namur, telling us something which we wouldn't have thought would happen in our wildest dreams.

Even thinking about it made his stomach swell and his eyes sting.

...

_/"His body...it's gone." _

_"...W-what...?" _

_Namur, his eyes hidden from everyone's view turned, facing towards the ship as he slowly tumbled forward. "Ace...the-his body...someone...someone has taken it.."_

_Silence hit the air, all his brother's quiet as their minds processed what the fishman had just said. _

_Taking ahold of his collar, Vista shook the man harshly but meaningfully as his eyes shook, his breath quivering. "No..Don't be stupid Namur...No-one would ha-" _

_"It's true."_

_All heads turned to their captain, who was previously silent, his eyes empty and his face stern. _

_Vista slowly let go of Namur, who stumbled back, his eyes glued on Marco. _

_Blenheim was the first to speak, though the actual words was a mash of confusion. "W-whe-wha-who..?"_

_"We don't know yet. But we will." Marco answered quick, as he walked slightly away from the group, only to turn back at them again. "We are to board the ship immediately. They haven't been gone for long now, so we are to quickly head to the next island. We'll probably find them there..." Everyone watched as they saw him walk down towards the edge of the forest, a barely audible whisper fell from his lips, though everyone around him heard it perfectly.  
_

_"And when we do, I'm going to kill those **bastards** myself."_

_Silence.\  
_

_..._

Vista sighed, slowly opening his eyes to once again look at his captain, his eyes empty from the contentment that he once had two years ago.

He doesn't think he has ever seen Marco that mad before, not even since the days after Marineford.

The _long..._

..._lingering _days that were spent grieving their lost brothers and father.

Even then had he not seen Marco look this upset. Heck, then man even swore, something he hadn't been known to do since the day he met him.

"When are we due to dock to the next island?"

Vista blinked, taken from his thoughts as he processed the question.

"They said another eight days. That's at best though."

Nodding, Marco resumed to carry on with the paperwork in front of him, but both men knew that it was pointless.

"My division is now currently on look out for any passing ships, I assure you that you'll be the first to know if there is any sight of anything." Vista said sternly, the only other noise being the raindrops hitting the window of the cabin.

Marco nodded again, so Vista took that as a sign to leave. Slightly raising his hand towards his head before leaving, he turned grabbing a hold of the door knob.

"Thank you Vista.."

Turning around, Vista saw his captain sending him a weak smile. Mirroring the same emotion, he nodded, turning the door knob and leaving.

It was going to be a long eight days.

* * *

"Eh?"

Ace stood there, as he blinked a few times, trying to make sure what he was seeing was real.

Well more like what he was _not seeing_.

From afar the town looked _nearly _deserted, but up close...it turned out it _was completely. _

_"Well that is certainly surprising." _

Twitching again at the sound of the voice, he un-glued his feet from the ground and looked in the house's windows, slightly tapping on it to see if anyone was in.

_"Do you seriously think that one would answer their door to someone who was wearing nothing but a cloak?" _

"Well I don't see you doing anything!?" Ace turned around, pointing at the figure with a scowl on his face.

_"I can easily see that their is no-one here pirate, so honestly what would it be that you are expecting me to do?" _

"..."

_"You can put your hand down now you know." _

"..."

_"What?" _

"Who're you?" Ace stated bluntly, his eyes narrowing.

_"You ask me this just now?" _

"Just answer the damn question!"

_"No, I will not." _

"What?!"

_"I have no reason to answer your question, neither do I deem it to be any of importance at the current moment." _

Suddenly a small but harmful fire in the shape of a bullet darted out of Ace fingertip in the direction of the Voice's shoulder.

However, to Ace's surprise and dismay, the bullet passed straight through it, causing Ace to take a step back, his back hitting the window."What...What are you?"

_"Of course this is coming from the dead man who is now in fact, walking around."_

As soon as the last word was said, another fire bullet came flying at the Voice's head.

Deciding not to comment on the others childish antics, the voice sighed sitting on the ground. "_I do, 'understand' how you might find this a bizarre.."_

"Bizzare?! I'm talking to someone who isn't even here with me!"

_"...but all will be said soon enough."_

Twitching for what seemed like the hundredth time of the day, Ace pointed at the Voice again. "Don't give me that shit! Who the hell are you and why have you been following me?"

_"More so the question should be, why did you let me travel with you in the first place?" _

Twitch. "...Don't avoid the question."

_"Like you are doing yourself?" _

Twitch.

"Mister, are you okay?"

Twitch. "Wait, What?"

Turning his head to the source of the sound, Ace was faced short, dirty snot-nosed brat, staring at him with wide eyes. "..."

"Uh...Yeah." Though too be honest, he didn't know what to say. Though he couldn't say the same thing about his mind.

1: Who was this kid?

2: Where had this kid come from?

3: Was this kid even real?

"'Cause you're screaming at a bench. You're even pointing to it Mister!"

Peeling his eyes over to where he was pointing, all he was faced with was a pathetic looking bench, having only three legs and half of the actual boards.

"..."_  
_

Looking back at the kid, he slowly lowered his hand down, before slightly pointing to it again with a dumbstruck look on his face. "There's...uh..There's an explanation for that."

"Oh?" The little boy tilted his head, giving a questioning look, that close to the one Lu wore. The difference was though that no one could say no to Lu's, and with this kid, he clearly was going to decline any type of explanation as to why he was talking to a bench.

"Listen kid, where are you from?"

"You see mister, when a mummy and daddy love each other ver-"

Ace quickly ran over to the kid to put a hand over his mouth. A flash of Dadan and the bandits laughing flashed in his mind as he inwardly shuddered.

He was **_not _**going to go through that talk again.

Especially not with what looked like a 7 year old kid.

"No..kid...just stop there...I mean where do you live?"

"Oh! I live in the town over on the other side of this island!"

"There's a town on this island?" Ace asked though, mostly to himself. Looking back at the bench -half expecting to see the figure of the voice there- he sighed, before kneeling down so he was at eye level with the kid, trying to make himself look as harmless as he could. "Uh...do you mind showing me the way to this...town?" Sending the kid a half irritated and half pleading smile, he was relieved when the kid smiled back at him, lightly grabbing ahold of his cloak.

"Sure! It's this way Mister...?"

"Just call me Mister, it'll be easier to remember that way."

Giggling, the kid nodded and skipped in front of him, rambling on about something or rather, while Ace followed him, eyes dazed and lost in thoughts.

The kid very much reminded the ex-commander of Luffy when he was around the same age. Or maybe that was his homesickness setting in. He didn't know. All he knew was that he wanted to find his brother soon, and if that meant re-starting his adventure from one of the blue sea's again, he didn't care.

"Mister?"

"Huh?"

Giggling interrupted his thoughts, as he glanced down to the boy yet again, inwardly sighing. Damn it, he forgot the brat was still here. In fact, he's amazed that he was able to follow the kid as lost in thought as he was. He needed to lose him as soon as they got to the town. A cloaked man walking around with innocent looking child? That won't bring people's attention at all.

"Uh, how long is it 'till we get to this town of yours?" Ace asked, still staring at the child in front of him.

"Hmm..." The boy turned around, walking backwards as he faced the cloaked figure. "I would say around another five minutes!"

"It was that close?" Ace again asked himself, forgetting that he was in the presence of the child.

"Yep! Though no-one goes near the village you were in anymore." Earning a frown on his face, the kid turned around, facing forward towards the tree's.

"Oh?" Ace raised an eyebrow.

"The people say something about going there gives them bad memories or something...Though I have no idea why! We lived there happily 'till around a'bout two years ago."

"Two years ago? And what happened then?" Even though Ace couldn't say he loved listening to histories of the island's he visited, he was curious in why the village back there was deserted.

The boy in front of him halted, slowly turning round to look at him in the eyes. "Mhm..." His eyes shadowed. "I-I don't know what happened. Cant' remember." It was obvious from the kid's face that he was lying, but Ace decided not to pry into it.

He didn't want to suddenly deal with a crying kid.

Giving the kid a pat of the head, he walked a few steps in front of the boy, deciding not to look back as he held up a hand. "Thanks kid. I think I can find my way from here."

The kid still dazed in his thoughts slightly nodded, before giving the cloaked man a small smile, running back off into the woods.

Finally, after walking what seemed an hour compared to a measly five minutes, Ace finally came across signs of civilization, and the signs weren't at all suttle.

Sounds of crowds...

people laughing...

people arguing...

people crying...echoed its way into Ace's ears.

Smells of different types of meat, wheat, fish, fruit smothered around him with every step, along with the sights of a bustling town, a familiarity that Ace had come to _miss_.

Without knowing it, a smile crept onto Ace's face, before reminding himself that he needed to be as discreet as he could. Pulling the hood of his cloak further over his face to hide is features, he continued to walk on.

The town was surprisingly huge, compared to that of the village that Ace had previously been in, and caused the fire-thrower to re-think on how he missed such a place this huge in the first place. It was obvious from within a few moments of approaching this place that pirate's were going to be present. After year's being one yourself and living around others, you tend to pick up signs of their presence, and in this case, it was several pirate's declaring how powerful they were.

Choosing to stay _far _away from anything which looks to cause a scene, Ace stuck to walking along the sides of street's, evading the countless people walking towards and across from him as he tried to find somewhere he could get _some _information.

And that's when Ace spotted a building in which most people were avoiding. He didn't know whether that was a good sign...or a _really_ _bad sign_. But looking at all his other options, Ace slowly made his way over, squinting his eyes to read the barely visible sign that had hung over the door.

'**_THE RED_ _LION TAVERN_**'

Smirking, Ace pushed the two doors which swayed with ease as he casually made his way over to one of the stools. He could really do with a drink right now, who says he couldn't get any info at the same time?

As soon as he stepped inside, all eyes were perched on his back, silence filling the room as he made his entrance. The barkeep looked the cloaked man up and down, thoroughly cleaning one of the mugs, a bored and slightly olden look posted across his face. "What..." The man sighed, placing the mug down and leaning towards Ace. "...will it be?"

Leaning back, Ace nodded towards the drinks behind the counter."Just one rum."

Sound started to fill the tavern again-_much to Ace's relief- _as Ace watched the barkeep set the mug in front of him, the man still staring at the cloaked figure with interest.

"..."

"..."

"You're not from around here, are ya'?"

_Shit. _Ace shook his head, bringing the rum to his mouth, drinking it nearly in one. "No, I'm not."

"Heh...heh...heh!" Laughing as he whipped up another glass in front of Ace, he leaned in closer to the ex-commander, throwing a damp cloth over his shoulder. "Well come 'n then! Tell us ya' name!"

_Damn. What's up with this old geezer? _Leaning back a little more, Ace stared at the other mug placed before him, before glancing the other way. A newspaper caught the freckled man's eye, causing him to raise an eyebrow before looking back at the barkeep. "Tell you what. I'll tell you my name if you give me information."

Grinning, the barkeep slammed the counter. "Information's what ya' want...is it?! Well tell me boy, what's it ya' want ta' hear?"

"The date. What's today's date?"

Not expecting such an easy request, the barkeep himself raised an eyebrow, before squinting his eyes, his mind obviously trying to recall it. "The date ya' say? It's tha' first of February. What of it boy?"

Ace's eyes shadowed, his head lowering. He couldn't remember how long it had been from when he was caught to when he was in the war. Had it been weeks, or maybe even months even? He didn't know, the whole time spent in Impel Down was just a faint blur.

All that he could remember was the pain...

the agony of letting his father down...

the grief of knowing he wasn't going to see his brothers again...

and the torture of knowing Luffy was making his way down to hell with him...

he chose_ not_ remember those times spent there.

Lifting up his head again, he picked up the second mug placed before him, gulping it down like it was water, before looking once more at the barkeep. "The year?"

Once again looking the boy up and down, the barkeep picked up the dirty rag from over his shoulder, taking the two mugs from Ace's reach. "Now that's a rather strange question...a boy like 'ya doesn't even know what year 'es is in?"

"Just...just answer the question."

"It's tha' first of February 1524 if my memory serves me right."

_1524? So that means it's been-  
_

_"-two year's if I am correct." _

"A-YOU!" Jumping back from off his stool falling onto the floor, Ace pointed at the voice's figure, who appeared to be sitting cross-legged on the stool besind him.

Sighing, the voice rested it's hand on the counter, a bored tone inching in it's voice. _"Don't make a scene pirate. Remember that you're the only one that can see me." _

Hearing this, Ace looked around to see the barkeep staring at him with wide eyes, along with anyone else in the area who was in audible reach. Coughing, Ace picked up his stool, slowly sitting on it, waiting for the background noise to continue.

"Ya' alright boy?"

"Uh..yeah. I thought I saw somebody I knew."

_"Tch...stupid pirate."_

The barkeep eyed the man, then back at the thing he was previously pointing too."A stool?"

"..." He really needed to stop talking to furniture. As he tried to look away from the confused look on the barkeep's face, Ace spotted a bounty poster hanging in the background.

_...No way. That couldn't be-  
_

"Hey! Old man! Mind telling me about that guy in the poster there?" Ace pointed over in the direction of a certain bounty poster, causing the barkeep turned round, before he started to laugh.

"Ahh, ya' a bounty hunter then I presume. Well let'me warn ya' now, if ya' thinking about going after the' boy, then ya' might s'well give up now. Some say that they heard 'es was tha' son of the Revolutionary Leader Dragon!"

A smile crept on the freckled man's face, before nodding. "That's the one. Do you know anything more about what's happened to him?"

Banging his hands on the counter yet again, the barkeep looked at the man with startled eyes. "Ya' haven't heard?! 'es said ta' be the step-brother of tha' **Pirate King's son**! People who were there ta' witness the war said so themselves!"

Flinch. "..." They knew. Even though he would have guessed that the whole world knew about his realtion's with that _being_, it still punctured him when he heard it.

Leaning in closer to the cloaked figure _again_, the barkeep continued to ramble on."Not only did they say that 'e ran into that war, but some believe 'e was tha' one that released all those criminal's from Impel Down!"

"..." Bellowing laughs from behind interrupted any train of thought that could have been going through Ace's head, the man not bothering to see who the laughs belonged too.

"STRAWHAT LUFFY?! GYAHAHAHAHA!" Everyone surrounding the loud man also laughed, cheered even."IT WAS I WHO FREED ALL THE CRIMINALS FROM THE DREADED PLACE KNOWN AS IMPEL DOWN...ME!"

Now _this _caused Ace to turn around and stare at the loud deafening man, making his eyebrow raise slightly. He thought he recognized the voice, but now it was the face_..._

_**Damnit**...where have I seen him before..-_

"THE ONE KNOWN AS A LEGEND AMONG ALL PIRATE CREWS..." Everyone in the tavern started to go quiet, staring at the ridiculous looking man-no-_clown_? who was now standing on one of the tables, his follower's surrounding him. "THE ONE AND ONLY LEADER OF THE PIRATE DISPATCH SOCIETY...IT IS ME! THE 'CLOWN STAR'...BUGGY THE CLOWN! GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Placing a fist in his other hand, Ace blankly stared at the man. "Oh. It's him."

Banging the counter with his fists _again_, the barkeep stared at the clown, his eyes wide. "Ya' know that clown boy?!"

"Huh?" Ace turned back around to face the barkeep, who was now staring at him. _Shit. Did I say that out loud? _"Uh, no. Just heard of him, that's all." Bringing the hood of the cloak forward, still keeping his feature's hidden, Ace pointed at the rum bottle behind the counter, nodding as the barkeep quickly fetched him another glass.

"One more question, do you know where I am?"

The barkeep tilted his head slightly, passing Ace the drink. "Ya' sure do ask a lot of weird question's boy. How can ya' not no where ya' ah?"

Grabbing the drink, Ace slowly sipped it this time, sighing as he set the drink back down. "..."

Taking the man's silence as an answer, the barkeep continued on. "Ya' in the New World sonny'. The island of Loranco, near ta' the Red Line."

_Loranco? That rang another bell. Seriously, why can I not think of anything today!? _Ace sighed, lowering his head down a bit.

The voice next to Ace laughed, before sneering at him with a smug tone. _"I told you so pirate. You know you should listen to me more."_

Choosing to ignore the voice next to him, Ace looked back up at the barkeep with interest. "I'm in the New World? But when I docked this island, there was nobody around."

Taking the mug from Ace, the barkeep's eyes narrowed slightly, facing away from the him as he went to wash the mug. "Ahh. Ye' must have docked at tha' other side of this island then. No, you see nobody goes round that area anymore boy, and if ye'are planning on staying then you shouldn't either."

Curious, Ace pushed further. "Oh? And why is that?"

His eyes shadowed, similar to the way the boy's was earlier, the barkeep faced the man with a grim look on his face. "This used ta' be a island protected by tha' Whitebeard Pirate's. After his death two years ago, this island was left un-protected. The Marine's thought that it would be a good chance ta' punish us for allying with pirate's, so they wiped half of this island's population as a warning." The barkeep slowly continued to clean the mug, Ace staring at the man with wide eyes.

"..."

His fault.

That was _all his fault._

Did he even **_deserve to live_ **after what he had done to this island?

And not just this island...

..no...there were plenty of other island's that were under Whitebeard's name...

..so...

...how many more people had died because...

...because he wasn't able to _protect_ anyone?

Ace slammed his fists down on the counter, burning the edges of it discreetly. This alarmed the barkeep, who slightly tapped the man on his shoulder's, before his face shot up, all that was visible to him being a glare. _A dangerous glare_.

"..."

_"Listen to me you pathetic pirate. Don't you dare start going down that guilt trip again. That's what got you here in the first place, did it not?"_

Glaring over to his side, he whispered with a saddened yet angered voice. "And just what do you know...? As far as I know you're just a voice inside my head."

_"..."_

"Oi' boy, you alright?" The barkeep shuddered unknowingly, taking a slight step back.

Ace sighed, rubbing his hand over his forehead, as he sat up. Though where his eyes should have stopped at the man infront of him, instead they moved on to the grinning picture of the boy behind him.

Looking towards the barkeep, he held his hands up showing a guilty smile. "Uh..about the drinks."

"They're on me boy, after all, ye' have been quite a pleasure ta' serve unlike tha' ruthless pirate's which have been in 'ere before." The barkeep smiled back at him.

Taking the gesture quickly, Ace got up off the stool, before turning around.

"But there is one thing that you haven't done boy."

Turning around, Ace raised an eyebrow, unknowing of what the man had wanted. "Oh?"

"What's ya' name?"

Smirking, Ace completely turned to face the man, whispering words so only the man could hear.

"Ace. Portgas D. Ace."

* * *

**IT. IS. FINALLY. OH SO FINALLY. DONE QWQ  
**

***collapses as the fairy lights engulf me* W.W  
**

**This took -_I kid you not_- three days to write. ._. **

**Writer's block sucks. ;Q;  
**

**ANYWAY. WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE IN THE STORY PEOPLE! *APPLAUSE* **

**(IDONTKNOWTHETIMELINESINONEPIECE.T'iSALLMADEUPSODONTKILLMEIFITSWRONG. ._.)**

**And yes. BUGGY WILL BE IMPORTANT. I DIDN'T JUST MENTION THAT IDIOT CLOWN FOR NOTHING XD.**

**xDD As I said before, I hate OC in a non-OC based story...So sorry for names such as 'kid' and 'barkeep' xDD And sorry for not going into the history of the island. I didn't want to get side-tracked from the story and go on into about how much dickheads the marine's are xDD (_all will be revealed though ;D_)  
**

**And, about Ace's arrival in the town, the last time he probably remembers being in a town like that wasn't only just two years ago, it would have been _way_ back when he was hunting down Blackbeard (_the bastard_) before he was taken to Impel Down and so on. ;Q;**

**ALSO, this chapter was written more differently than the others! Did you notice? xD **

**OH YEAH.**

**A GREAT BIG THANKYOU TO ALL THE PEOPLE THAT REVIEWED! I DO THIS FOR YOU GUYS, AND TO EVEN GET A LITTLE BIT OF APPROVAL FROM YA' GUYS WARMS MY HEART *cheesy music starts to play in background as I cry*. ;Q;  
**

***coughs* Ah'hem. QUESTION: Should I keep the chapter's small or have them longer? Longer chapter's just require more time than the small ones. So it will be every two weeks the long chapters come out. Should I keep it to the small ones? You decide xDD *easy get out* **

**I would love it if you reviewed, even if it's a measly couple of words...it reminds me that you guys still wanna hear more..(and it makes me happy ;~: xD) **

**(_Also a great big THANKS to the people that favorited and followed...love 'ya guys too~!_)**

**I don't know when the next Chapter is going to come out, (_don't kill meh x2 ;Q;_) but it might be a while Dx! Though remember, I will never abandon this FF...I've become way too attached ._. ;DD**

**Sorry for the un-EPICNESS in this Chapter, I still hope it was alright though xD**

**ANYWAYS (_Gosh..you really speak way too much =.=")_ **

**_Shh~ :'3_**

**That's all folks ;3**

**-aslMeno**


	8. Chapter 7

**:note:**

**Hey, its aslMeno here wi-**

**OMYGOSH WHAT IS UP WITH THIS FREAK WEATHER PEOPLE!? ITS ALL LIKE BOOM-FREAKING POW BOOM SLASH- O.O**

***coughs***

**-th a new chapter~!**

**I HAVE DECIDED ON THE CHAPTER LENGTHS. Each chapter will be random lengths. The length on each chapter will be decided on when I feel like that certain paragraph should end…so yeah. That's my decision..xD And this chapter is _short_. *APOLOGIES***

**I'm not going to continue talking 'cause there's a _long_ author's note at the end of this ;Q; *sorry?***

**So ONWARDS WITH ZE CHAPTER!**

**Disclaimer: Surprisingly liking the filler in the anime...o_O. The whole thing with Law and Luffy was just crazy xDD Liking it doesn't make me own it though. If liking things made me own them..._. Well then.*goes off into fantasy world***

**(P.S Update's from now on will be a bit slow until February. Keep in mind that this story might update as quick as Internet Explorer... ._.)**

* * *

_Beings complain that life is too short... _

_yet do they not realize...?_

_The shortest time they assume to have..._

_…is in fact they longest thing they will ever have to endure..._

* * *

"Ace. Portgas D. Ace."

The barkeep stood there, mouth slightly agape, the obvious expression on his face showing that he had no idea on how to respond to what the young man in front of him had just proclaimed.

Not giving the barkeep time to ask any more questions, Ace slightly nodded his head before turning away, swiftly making his way to the door and exiting the tavern. Focusing his eyes onto the objects in front of him, he had to wince, the sunlight beaming off his eyes onto his freckles.

_"That was a foolish thing to do Pirate. What happens if he tells anyone?"_

"He won't." Ace stated simply, pulling the cloaks hood further over his head to hide his face.

_"And if he does?"_

"…" Giving the voice a quick glare, he chose not to respond. He knew very well what would happen if the Marine's found out that he was alive this early in his search, and the thoughts weren't overly good around to see if the coast was clear, Ace walked back into the hustling town, blending in crowds walking back and forth as he searched for any signs of the sea.

However the thoughts of the previous conversation kept ringing through Ace's mind.

…

_/'. "This used ta' be an island protected by tha' Whitebeard Pirate's. After his death two years ago, this island was left un-protected. The Marine's thought that it would be a good chance ta' punish us for allying with pirate's, so they wiped half of this island's population as a warning." '\_

…

He was pissed.

Maybe pissed is under-exaggerating.

Because…

…as soon as he found his crew and Luffy…

…he was going to make sure he'd find Blackbeard…

…and make that bastard pay for what he had done…

Startling him from his thoughts, the sound of cannon fire immediately caught Ace's eyes and ears, including anyone within range. People started to scream and run, dropping all their belongings, making their way to shelter. In the midst of it all, Ace stood there, a scowl on his face as he looked around for the source of the noise.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHA."

Eyebrow's rising with recognition, Ace turned round to see the ridiculously dressed clown which had been previously gloating in the Tavern before. The clown stood in the opening of the town gates, his arms crossed across his chest as he smugly laughed, raising his hand forward, pointing towards the townspeople who were still running.

"RUN IN FEAR! FOR IT IS ME! THE CLOWN STAR BUGGY! GYAHAHAHAHA!"

_"Hm. What a preposterous looking man."_

Glancing over to the figure of the voice, Ace sighed, before staring back at the loudly proclaimed clown. "He's harmless really. I met him back in Paradise while I was searching for Blackbeard. Never thought he actually had the balls to make it this far into the Grandline though."

_"So I'm presuming he would recognise you?"_

Eyebrow rising slightly as his pupil quickly glanced at the voice, Ace nodded. "If I'm correct, I thought I saw him at Marineford, so there's a good chance that he doesn't only recognise me, but knows who I am and that I…"

_"…that you died?" _

Clearing his throat, Ace slightly lowered his head, his eyes glazed over. "Yeah. That I died."

_"Isn't it best to get as far away from him as possible then?" _

Choosing not to respond, Ace turned around, walking in the opposite direction of Buggy, ignoring all sounds coming from the clown.

"…YOU THERE!"

"…"

"I'M TALKING TO YOU PUNK."

_"Oh look. It seems he's already recognized you." _

Twitching, Ace briefly looked back at the clown before halting, a silent and agitated "What?" spilling from his mouth.

A shit-eating grin passed on Buggy's face, as he cockily staggered over to the cloaked man, before intimidatingly poking him in the chest. "I saw you before…You were the one who ignored me in the Tavern before weren't you...!"

Stepping back a tiny step, Ace lowered his head, trying to edge away from the clown as much as possible without punching him. Trying hard to swallow his pride, Ace nodded before sending a weak smile towards the clown. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about that!" Sending his hand up as a signal that he was going to leave, Ace shot the clown one last smile before legging it down the street, ignoring the cries of the pirates behind him.

"STOP HIM!"

_Oh shit. _

This is not something he needed right now.

Looking towards his fist, he tried his best to ignore the instincts that were yelling at him to **"_Fight back!" _**… **_"Why are you running away?!"_**

Sounds of gunfire pierced the background as Ace came to a halt.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE MESSING WITH BRAT?!"

"…"

Ace turned to face Buggy, the cloak still covering a majority of his face, a scowl forming as he continued to stare at the clown.

"YOU DARE TO RUN AWAY FROM ME?! I AM THE FLASHIEST OF ALL PIR-"

Tuning out of the clown's words, thoughts of how he was going to do this without getting recognized whisked in his head.

"I WAS ONCE THE STRONGEST PIRATE IN ALL OF EAST B-"

_Maybe just a punch will knock out this guy. _Ace looked Buggy up and down, assessing how powerful he was. Sure on first glance the clown looked pitiful, but if you went round judging on first glances on the Grandline, you probably wouldn't last all that long.

"-HE PIRATE WHO IS HUNTING DOWN THE ALL FAMOUS MONKEY D. LUFFY-"

Twitch.

…._What had he just said?_

Blinking a few times, Ace tuned back into what the fellow pirate was saying, a more curious and pleading look telling on his face. "L-Luffy?"

"AHA. SO THAT GOT YOUR ATTENTION DID IT?! GYAHAHAHAHA!" Pointing his lava red nose up towards the sky, closing his eyes Buggy crossed his arms over his chest, smugly declaring to the cloaked man. "ONCE I GET MY HANDS ON DRAGONS SON…"

"…"

"THE WHOLE WORLD…."

"…"

"IT WILL BOW DOWN TO ME…! GYAHAHAHA!"

"…"

"Eh?!" Peeking one eye open, Buggy stared at the silent figure, waiting for some kind of reaction coming from it.

The cloaked man had his face peering to the floor. "So let me get this straight…"

Buggy unknowingly took a slight step back, unnerved by the tone of voice the figure used. However, that wasn't the only thing that startled the man. Not only was he threatened by the tone he was using, but the voice itself…it was similar. "Y-yeah?"

"Right now, you're hunting down Luffy…?" Buggy didn't have to see the man's face to know that the figure was _murderously _glaring at him, shaking slightly as the cloaked figure lifted his face up.

Clearing his throat before nodding, Buggy let out a silent yelp. "Y-Y-Yes-s that's..that's right.."

Ace smirked. "Heh. You see, I can't let you do that."

Pointing at the man despite the obvious shakes coming from the clown, Buggy tried to intimidate the man. –_though, he was very much failing…_- "Oh?! And who is it that says I can't?!"

"_Don't be an idiot Ace." _The voice commented, sighing as it leaned against the wall, closing its eyes.

"What kind of brother would I be if I allowed you to walk away now with all moving limbs?" Ace dangerously smiled innocently at the clown, causing the said person to back up more, shaking from fear.

"B-b-bro-ther?" Buggy yelped. "Strawhat's brother di-ed in the w-war…You're deluded to think t-t-that you're him…"

Ace raised an eyebrow, smirk still easily visible on his face. "Oh…really?"

"_Don't do it Portgas."_

Choosing to ignore the voice's comment, Ace slowly lit his hand on fire from underneath the cloak, taking a few steps towards the clown.

Quickly taking one of his knives from his sleeve, Buggy threw the knife at the cloaked figure, laughing half-heartedly as the figure stayed in place, not bothering to move from his spot.

_However_, what Buggy didn't expect was for the knife to go through the figure, only to be covered up by enticing flames which danced upon the figure's skin. Dropping his hands to his waist, Buggy stared with fright at the figure, his nose running as a stutter of words fell out of his mouth. "N-N-No th-thash-that can't b-b-e w-wh-a…?!"

Pulling back the hood to his cloak, Ace glared at the shaking clown before grabbing a hold the scuff of Buggy's neck. "Seeing as you are hunting him right now…Care to tell me where Luffy is?"

Buggy yelped. "B-bu-t yo-ou a-arare de-dead…you di-died!"

Smirking, Ace stared at the man's eyes, letting out a soft chuckle. "'Fraid you haven't gotten rid of me yet."

* * *

_'TWO YEARS PASSED SINCE MARINEFORD LOSS'_

Robin stared down at the paper's headline, a slight frown edging down her face, as she silently glanced over to her captain who was staring over the side of the ship, unnaturally calm and quiet. She didn't need to be in front of him to see that he had been previously crying the night before.

Despite how much he tried to hide it, all of the crew could see it in his eyes, the way he would stare down at his scar; the constant reminder of what happened all those years ago. The bumbling captain they had before the war fading away for a few moments, leaving a lost brother.

The worst thing was, was that she knew exactly how he felt.

The guilt...

…the loneliness felt despite the people surrounding you…

…it was something she would never wish on anyone.

Especially not her saviour; her captain.

Settling the paper on the grass below her, she traipsed over where her captain was leaning, offering comfort, without saying a word.

Noticing her presence, Luffy quickly looked over his shoulder before falsely grinning. "Robin!"

Smiling, she leaned her hand onto the rail of the ship, nodding as her gaze glued to the boy. "Captain-san. I was just wondering what you were doing over here."

"Oh?" Luffy tilted his head, his eyes still plain and empty, before blinking and laughing. "It was nothing." Gazing out onto the water once more, he held Robin's shoulder before leaping back. Shooting her one last smile, silently thanking her for the comfort, he went off to search for Sanji, leaving Robin who continued to gaze at the sea. Her smile fell, as her eyes searched the sea, the worries for her captain still spiralling in her mind.

In the distance, the sight of an island caught her eyes, quickly looking up to see their well-known liar jumping up and down, screaming "LUFFY! DRESSROSA…IT'S UP AHEAD!"

"Dressrosa…" A silent whisper came from her lips, as her sight returned to the island. Closing her eyes, the last thoughts glazed through her head, ones that were dearly hoping that this would be a calm and peaceful exchange.

Smiling once more, she headed to where the rest of the crew were, leaving behind the newspaper on the floor.

What was she talking about?

This is her captain, and when it comes to Luffy, you are sure to be in for some shocks.

* * *

**So there we go. :'3 **

**Now, here's for the long… –end of chapter author's note! – *sorry* xD**

***DUN DUN DUNN* ACE HAS BEEN FOUND OUT.**

**By Buggy xD I hope his reaction was believable enough… I can just imagine it going that way. :'3 **

**Buggy was screwed the moment he mentioned to Ace he was going to hunt down his brother. xD Almost feel sorry for the guy. _Almost._ **

**And AHSGHS. Ace and his stupid –_"I can't run away from any fights~! :D"_- PFF.**

**LUFFY HAS MADE AN APPEARANCE! \(;Q;)/ *YAAY* **

**Though no Marco ;Q; *WHY?!* **

**As I said in the previous chapter, this is an AU story, so here are just some things I want to get across so it's not _too _confusing xD.**

**1) Yes. Ace's devil fruit is still out there. And yes. Ace still has his ability. **

**2) The Strawhat Crew and Law are still on their way to Dressrosa. **

**3) There is NO parings in this FF. I am sorry….3 I _really _suck at writing pairing FF's (_I have tried. And failed…xD_) So the only thing which is close to a paring will be the brother complex Ace has and the bonding that Marco and him will have. xD I can easily write that. ;D**

**4) There _is_ a solid ending to this story. Yeah sure there are some things which I have no idea how I am going to write, but there will be an ending to this story. Is it near? Well…**

**ANYWAYS.**

**I try my best to find time to respond to every review, when I realized I haven't responded to any of my Guest reviewers ;Q; *forgive me?***

**So now for the Guest reviews…answer+replies…thingy xD**

**Awesome: *love your name ;D xD* I am glad you liked it! I agree that reading FF is the best way to recover from murderous projects xD. Thanks for the review!**

**Pixi: I'm happy you like my writing style! Sometimes I find like I don't make sense, then I have to re-read it all and then I end up procrastinat- Whoops. Getting distracted there… xD I will update when I can, If I posted a small chapter beforehand then it's more likely the chapter will be out quicker, and vise-versa. Thanks for the review!**

**Guest: I HAVE UPDATED \(*Q*)/ Thanks for the review!**

**MelodySchnee: xDD I love how you called him 'ACESWAN'… xD. YES. ACESWAN IS ALIVE. And I have finally updated z(._.)z :'3 Thanks for the review! **

**Again though, thank you for the reviews. I appreciate every single one of them, and when I see them pop up on my email, it genuinely makes me smile.**

**Also a thank you to all the people who clicked the favourite and follow buttons! You guys are awesome ;D**

**That wasn't too long…was it? ;Q;**

**ANYWAYS.**

**That's all folks ;3**

**-aslMeno**


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